Next
week the Democrats will hold their national convention in Atlanta, and as they do so,
you're going to be hearing a lot of rhetoric about the economy. Indeed, our
economic future is likely to prove the central issue of the coming campaign.
So, with the campaign season upon us, I thought I might take a few moments this
afternoon to put this whole issue in proper perspective.

When
it comes to the economy, there are two big facts to keep in mind. Before we
came to Washington, our economy was in a
mess: inflation in double digits, men and women being thrown out of jobs, the
prime interest rate soaring at the highest level since the Civil War. And the
second big fact -- well, the second big fact is that when our administration
had put its economic program in place, the economy stopped shrinking and
started to grow, and it's been growing ever since.

Permit
me to share with you just a few figures, figures I truly hope the Democrats
keep in mind as they meet in Atlanta. Today's economic
expansion has become the longest peacetime expansion in our entire history.
Unemployment has fallen to the lowest level in nearly a decade and a half.
Among black teenagers, unemployment has fallen to the lowest level since
recordkeeping began back in 1972, showing that minorities are among those
benefiting the most from economic growth. Since the expansion began 67 months
ago, the American economy has created more than 17 million jobs, far more than
the number created by the economies of Western Europe and Japan combined. Business
investment in plant and equipment is up. Our trade balance is improving. And
more Americans have jobs today than at any time in our history.

What
does all this mean? It means that getting the Government off your backs and out
of your pockets has worked. You see, for years now there have been two basic
approaches, two basic philosophies, regarding our economy. The liberal view is
suspicious of free markets and private enterprise. It holds that it's the job
of government to intervene in the economy, and to
intervene constantly -- taxing, regulating -- spending more and more of your
dollars. And, yes, it's this liberal view that nearly wrecked our economy the last
time the Democrats were in charge.

Our
administration ushered in a new philosophy, one that trusted you, the people,
and not big government. We cut tax rates, pared back regulations, limited the growth of government spending. And we did all
this to get government out of the way so that individuals and enterprises had
incentives to grow, to invest, to innovate, to create jobs. Professional
economists would describe our philosophy as one that believes there's a bias
for growth in the private sector. To put that same idea in plain language, we
believe it's only natural for individual men and women to want to build a
better life for themselves and their families and that it's up to the
Government to get out of the way and let them do just that.

By
now, it's clear that our approach works, that trusting the people leads to
prosperity. Economists have even begun to realize that the old boom-and-bust
cycles of the past probably had more to do with the volatility of government
policy than with underlying economic causes and that if we remain true to
low-tax, high-growth policies, today's expansion, already at 67 months and
still counting, can go on and on.

This
brings me back to the convention that's taking place in Atlanta next week. You see,
today we face an historic opportunity. It's the chance to remove the fear of
the boom-and-bust cycle once and for all, replacing it with consistent low-tax,
limited-government policies -- in other words, to achieve a bipartisan,
national consensus for economic growth.

I
firmly believe that there will be some right-minded Democrats at the convention
next week, just as there are many rank and file Democratic voters across the country who agree. But sadly, the leaders in charge of the
convention will want to take America back to the failed
policies of the past. It's ironic, isn't it, that just
as countries around the world are adopting the same progrowth
policies our administration put in place, so many in the Democratic Party want
to go in the opposite direction.

So,
as you watch the convention in Atlanta next week, I urge you
to ask yourself this question: Is the Democratic Party and its nominee for
President going to keep taxes low and government growth under control, or are
they going to go back to the very policies that could wreck our economy yet
again?

Until
next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you.

Note: The
President spoke at 12:06 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House.